Connect with First Year Trips

Extra Info and FAQs for Volunteers

Housing

DOC Trips will provide housing for you during your trip. Your first night you'll spend in the leader training review program, the second night you'll spend with your trip on-campus, and then you'll be out on your trip.

Interim Housing

Trip Leaders can usually secure interim housing through the College, but it depends on what section you are leading on, your D-Plan, and what building you are moving into. In order to secure interim housing, you MUST be living in College housing this fall. Students who are not in College housing this fall are NOT eligible for interim housing.

FAQs

We've compiled this list of frequently asked questions to help you navigate the volunteer application process. If you have any additional questions, please send them to doctrips@dartmouth.edu anytime!

What is the time commitment for Trip Leader Training if I'm accepted as a trip leader? What is the time commitment for crooling training?

Trip leaders are required to attend three training sessions during the spring or summer terms to prepare for leading their trips at the beginning of the summer. The sessions focus on wilderness skills, risk management, and community building, and they will total around nine hours of training. In addition, trip leaders must be First Aid/ CPR certified (three hour training sessions each) either through a previous certification or through EMS's courses (schedule can be found here). Before leading a trip, each Trip Leader also spends a night on Gilman Island to refresh the previously learned skills and get to know other trip leaders on their section. Finally, if you are selected to lead a technical trip, such as Whitewater Kayaking or Mountain Biking, you will be required to undergo a Wilderness Experience in this specialty so you will be better prepared for your trip.

The trip itself will last for five days, and your commitment to your trippees will extend to the following terms, in order for you to serve as a continued mentor, help your trippees transition to Dartmouth, and create a sense of community for your trippees on campus.

Croolings will have similar trainings totaling around six hours, and their commitment during Trips lasts for the entirety of the program, which will be about three weeks, likely from August 16th - September 7th.

Unfortunately, due to this year's late end to Sophomore Summer and early start to 18F, sophomores (or anyone taking classes during 18X) will not be available to be on croos. Trips this year starts almost two weeks before summer classes end, which is too much overlap for a smooth transition into croo. '20s not taking classes during 18X are still eligible to apply for croo! Also, '20s, regardless of whether they're taking summer classes, can and are encouraged to apply to be trip leaders!

In order to create the most balanced, diverse, and effective teams for each of our six support croos, it is incredibly important that the Trips Directorate be able to place selected applicants on the croo we believe suits them best. Since croos consist of 4 to 16 people working closely together for three consecutive weeks, croo assignments must be made very intentionally with group dynamics, diversity of experience, and skillset distribution borne carefully in mind. And most importantly, with the exception of a handful of skill-specific jobs on each croo, the croos share more similarities than differences in their roles and responsibilities within the Trips program. An applicant who is a good fit for one croo will be a good fit for any croo, so in your application, you should reflect on how you envision the role of croos overall and what you hope to contribute in that role.

Yes! There is a Trip Leader Training session the day before Trips starts, so if you cannot do your trainings in Hanover during the spring or summer, you can do them right before your trip. If it is not possible for you to come to trainings until this last session, please mention your spring/ summer conflicts in your application.

What should I do if I get placed on the waiting list to be a volunteer? How likely am I to be accepted off the waiting list?

Everyone assigned to the Trip Leader waitlist is heavily encouraged to complete the Trip Leader Trainings anyway, as there is a very high likelihood of getting pulled off the waitlist if you have completed the trainings. If you are waitlisted and still extremely interested in leading a Trip, please communicate that, as well as your plans for completing the trainings, to the Trips Directorate.

We would recommend reading the "Qualities of a Trips Volunteer" and the "Application Tips" on found here before starting your application. Additionally, you should be aware of the required commitments and trainings for trip leaders and croolings, as applying to the program commits you to the role if selected.

Besides the information on this web page, RWIT is an excellent resource that you can use to help edit your application. Additionally, the Trips Directorate will be holding [office hours] that you can use as a resource.

What is the process for grading applications and selecting trip leaders and croolings?

The application has two clearly-marked portions (graded and non-graded). The graded portion of the application will be read and scored at least three times by directorate members and a diverse team of seniors with prior involvement in the Trips program who have been trained on the grading system for Trips applications. Once all applications have been scored at least three times, Trip Leader Trainers and Croo Captains will begin selection (based on the average scores) and Trip or Croo assignment, at which point the non-graded section (including identifying information) is available to the Trip Leader Trainers and Croo Captains. The non-graded section of the application is used for making sure our Trip Leaders and croos are balanced and diverse, not for deciding whether or not a certain application is accepted. By late April, all applicants will be notified of their acceptance, placement on the waitlist, or denial.

I've already taken Risk Management and Group Dynamics to become a DOC sub-club leader/ I previously underwent Trip Leader Training. Do I need to take these again to be a trip leader this year?

Yes and No. Although the role or DOC leader and Trip Leader are similar, the Trip Leader Training curriculum does prepare you for a different role than DOC sub-club training. It is required that you complete either the full Trip Leader training or a specially tailored, one time only, abbreviated training session. If you are a leader in a sub-club, you are also exempt from the Wilderness Experience that applies to that club. For example, if you are a whitewater kayaking leader in Ledyard, you do not need to go on a whitewater kayaking Wilderness Experience if you're selected to lead a whitewater trip.

What if I've never led an outdoors trip? What if I've never even gone camping? (I don't know how to read maps, canoe/climb/bike/hike, etc.)

No wilderness experience is necessary to lead a First Year Trip, and we are seeking volunteers with all levels of exposure to the outdoors! If you don't have experience in the outdoors, there are options to lead trips that do not require previous experience, such as Cabin Camping, Community Service, and Nature Photography. However, the Trip Leader Training curriculum will equip all trip leaders with the wilderness skills required to lead most of the trips. Your previous outdoors experience will not affect whether you are selected to lead a trip, though it may affect which trip you lead.

Trip Leaders who complete all their trainings, lead their Trip to completion, and meet certain enrollment criteria are eligible to receive PE credit. To receive credit, you must be enrolled in classes in either 18S or 18X. PE credit will only be awarded once volunteers have completed CPR and First Aid certification, attended all three Trip Leader training sessions, fulfilled their relevant outdoor experience requirement, and successfully led their Trip. Because you cannot receive credit until AFTER you have led your Trip, your PE credit will not appear on your transcript until after Trips has concluded, regardless of the term to which your credit is applied. Note: we are awaiting approval on a proposal to offer croo members PE credit through the same process. We will continue to communicate information about PE credit for all volunteers via email.